The document discusses challenges of project management for startups. It notes that startups have small teams, evolving product ideas, and changing requirements which make traditional project management approaches like waterfall not work well. It recommends using agile methods like Scrum, maintaining a product backlog of user stories, and collaborating closely with customers for feedback. Both wireframes and close collaboration helped deliver products, while evolving requirements and lack of change control caused issues. Learning included defining core processes, validating ideas with customers, and building what customers need.

1. Project Management Nightmares
for Startups
- By Rahul Sudame, CSM, PMP
Director of Engineering, Faichi Solutions

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Agenda
• Startup Environments
• Challenges
• What worked
• What Didn’t work
• Our Learnings

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Services Startups
• Small organizations providing services
to globally distributed customers
• Projects through contacts
• Customer-driven processes (if at all!)
• Big customer’s dominance
• Funding / Growth challenges

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I want to develop a
social networking
platform for focus
groups!
I want to develop a
free video
conferencing portal!
I want to develop an
app to record the
proceedings of a
surgery!
I want to develop a
portal for pet-owners!
Product Ideas

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Product Startups
• One liner product ideas!
• Ever evolving thoughts.
• Will this idea fly?
• What about funding?
• Multiple vendors bidding in the
proposal stage.

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How much will it cost?
• What’s the scope?
• Which estimation techniques (FP, SP, UCP)
to use?
• What is the confidence level is estimates?
• Which Project Management methodology
(Agile/SDLC) will work here?
• Engagement model (Fix Price/T&M)?

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When can we launch it?
• Functional Specification Document (FSD)?
You are kidding!
• Product Backlog? What’s this?
• Change request? Its going to pivot daily!
• How to estimate efforts for ever-evolving
scope?
• How to decide launch date with fluid scope?

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Waterfall may not work here
Requirements
Gathering
Design
Development
Testing
Launch &
Maintain
Documentation,
Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs, Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs, Handoff
Business Analyst Architect Developer Tester Tech Support

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Lets try Agile!
Time
Visibility
Iterative Development
All-At-Once Development

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Building Product Backlog
• Project Manager Playing role of PO/BA.
• Converting thoughts into user stories.
• Recording user stories in PM tool, along
with customer prioritization.
• Wireframes / Prototypes instead of
detailed specifications.
Product Owner
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
13

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Usability / User Experience

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Wireframes / Mockups

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Iterations not ‘Sprints’
Iteration
Potentially
Shippable
Product
PM / PO
Demo
PM / Scrum
Master
The Team
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
13
No Changes
(in Duration or Deliverable)
Commitment
Daily Scrum
Meeting
Retrospective

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Inspect & Adapt
 1 week iteration.
 Demo to customers every
week.
 Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.
 Finalize next week’s plan
based on customer’s
business dynamics.

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PM Challenges in Startups
• Lack of defined processes
• Constraints – Resources,
Tools/Infrastructure, Budget,
Timelines
• Changing business dynamics
• Uncertainties – Change in
plans/focus, Resource sharing
• Pressure of sustenance and growth

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Quality
Management
Cost
Management
Communication
Management
Time
Management
Human Resource
Management
Procurement
Management
Risk
Management
Integration
Management
Scope
Management
Minimalistic Project Management

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What didn’t work?

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Agile Process Hype Cycle
Gartner Hype Cycle

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• Significant changes in requirements, during/after
development.
• Change in requirement might result in design change.
• Time to market vs. Change in scope.
• No formal Change Control mechanism.
• Impact to timelines.
Floating Requirements

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Wireframes
• May not match actual customer expectations.
• Un-spelled expectations not captured.
• Implementation differing the wireframes.
• No formal Functional Specification Document.
• No defined / ‘Frozen’ scope.

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Challenges
• Funding constraints.
• Funding or Business pressure resulting in change of directions.
• Trust and collaboration between both the organizations.
• Inflation of scope / Ineffective change management.
• Gaining end user adoption and early feedback.

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What worked?

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Agile Manifesto
Process and tools
Individuals and
interactions
over
Following a plan
Responding to
change
over
Source: www.agilemanifesto.org
Comprehensive
documentation
Working software over
Contract negotiation
Customer
collaboration
over

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Wireframes
• Wireframes / Mockups / HTML Prototypes in absence of
detailed specs
• Helped in getting clarity on User Interface as well as
functionality.
• Reference point for developers and testers.
• Helped in considering usability / user experience.
• Helped in verifying technical feasibility.

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Customer Collaboration
• Working with customer as partner.
• No vendor-client relationship.
• Adapting customer’s feedback.
• Supporting customer’s business priorities.
• Owning the success jointly!

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Team Collaboration
• Developers and Testers co-located.
• Team directly working with customers.
• Tools for remote collaboration (e.g. webex, skype, video
conferencing etc).
• Personal Kanban board.
• Johari window for group feedback.

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Value-based prioritization
• Minimal Marketable Feature (MMF)
• Defining features list for product beta-
release, Go-live etc.
• Incorporating customer feedback after
initial launch.
• Building product roadmap based on
customer feedback, business criticality
and technical debt.

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Tools
• Project Management Tool
– Excel / Jira / ZilicusPM / Google Docs
• Beta Testing
– TestFlight / Simulators
• Automated / Performance Testing
– Selenium / Jmeter
• Configuration Management Tool
– Git

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Technology Ownership

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Collaboration Games

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The Outcome!

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Sentizens – Social Networking App
An innovative social networking
platform designed exclusively
for Senior citizens to share,
collaborate, learn & avail variety
of services with focus on holistic
living. www.sentizens.com
Special features:
• Posting, Liking, Sharing, Join Groups
• Event reminders as default setting
• Configured Skype contacts
• Clocks of different time zones
• Store contacts and information
• Relevant articles on health, finance etc.
• Services in proximity
• Option to increase Font size

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Consoft – Video Conferencing Platform
 Free public conference tool
• Available to all - Education, Government, Corporate & General Public
• Be a Speaker or Moderator
• Real time feedback from audience
• Real time communication (audio and video) with audience
• Reach all your Corporation offices in different countries
• Include power point or video presentation control by Speaker
 Free private conference tool
• Private conference call up to 4 computers
• Make private calls or invite to join
• Invite your contact
 Pvt. Messaging
• Able to send video message offline or online

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Learnings

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Learnings
• Define core subset of processes as per project
needs
• Define your project management, tracking
mechanism (Lean Startup, Scrum, Kanban, SDLC)
• Explore Open source tools: Asana, Basecamp,
HipChat, Unfuddle, Bugzilla
• Validate ideas, thoughts, implementations with
customers, end users
• Inspect & Adapt

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Summary
• Functional Specs / Product Backlog cannot be
replaced by just Wireframes!
• T&M Engagement vs. Fix bid for evolving projects.
• Strong customer collaboration results in great
outcome.
• Early involvement of potential users significantly
helps in verifying the business viability / user
expectations.
• Build what the customer needs!

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About Faichi Solutions
 We are a technology company in Pune, India specializing in outsourced product
engineering & setting up offshore development centers.
 We hold expertise in technologies such as Drupal, Java, Mobile and UI/UX
development.
 Established in 2009, with a vision to transform the outsourced product engineering
landscape through technical excellence and delivery model innovation.
 Faichi Solutions has successfully delivered some of the most complex technology
projects through partner collaboration & Agile processes.
©2014 Faichi Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

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 To read case studies of Faichi Solutions, please visit:
www.faichi.com/success-stories
 For more information please visit: www.faichi.com or mail us at
sales@faichi.com
USA India
Faichi Solutions Inc Faichi Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
2023 Mandelay Pl 504, Accord IT Park, Baner Road,
San Jose, CA 95138 Pune, Maharashtra – 411045
Tel: +1 (408) 769-4941 Tel: +91-20-65291435
©2014 Faichi Solutions Pvt. Ltd.